


In Sickness and In Health

by DianaandAlicia



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Safeword Use, Sick Character, Sickfic, This is basically just Althea and Alicia, canon divergence Althea and Alicia are girlfriends, very light implications of bdsm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 10:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19461919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: While the group is living in the denim factory, Althea comes down with a stomach bug.





	In Sickness and In Health

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! So first off, after season four I was really excited to see our group living in the denim factory during season five. Unfortunately, that's not what's going on at the moment, so I decided to write this. This story is set during the few months between 4x16 and 5x01, when our group is making the denim factory their home. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy it!

“Red.” Althea said, feeling a bit nauseated. 

Alicia paused what she was doing and looked up, before going over to Al, immediately cutting her bonds. 

“What’s wrong Baby, why are you red?” 

“Alicia I’m gonna puke.” 

As soon as she heard that, Alicia placed a bucket under Al’s chin and within seconds, the older woman heaved, spilling the contents of her stomach into said bucket. 

“Oh Althie.” Alicia cooed, rubbing her back. As her hand touched Al’s bare skin, she realized that her girlfriend was burning up with a fever. 

After Al was done throwing up, Alicia quickly helped her dress in some warm pajamas so she wouldn’t catch a chill, and then went to the bathroom to take care of the bucket. 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do the scene. I know you were looking forward to it.” Al said, when Alicia came back. Alicia had been scavenging with Morgan all week, and every time she came back home to the denim factory, she was too tired to do a scene with Al. 

“Hush.” Alicia gently scolded. “I don’t care about doing a scene if you’re sick. How are you feeling? What are your symptoms?” 

“Fever and chills, stomach hurts, tired as hell.” 

“You probably have a stomach bug, but I’m going to get June to check you out. Stay put.” Alicia said, before leaving the bedroom. 

Despite Alicia’s instructions, Al leapt out of bed and pulled the ropes they were using for restraints off the bedposts, shoving them under the bed. The vibrator, ball gag and blindfold followed quickly behind, and Al settled back into bed as if nothing happened. 

Even though June wasn’t judgmental, that didn’t mean that she had the right to know the ins and outs of Al and Alicia’s sex life. 

When Alicia returned with the nurse, she looked at Al knowingly, seeing that the sick girl disobeyed her orders of staying put because of the lack of toys on the bed, but she didn’t say anything, because if she did, June would ask questions and then it would be awkward. 

After June checked Al out, she agreed with Alicia that Althea had the stomach flu. Once she gave the younger girl some instructions on what to do to help Al, she left the two alone, promising to come back in a few hours to check in on Althea. 

“Naughty, naughty. Getting out of bed when I told you not to.” Alicia scolded, though Althea knew that her girlfriend wasn’t actually mad at her. 

Althea jokingly stuck her tongue out at Alicia and the younger girl playfully swatted her arm, before getting up and going to the bathroom. 

When Alicia came back, she had a cool damp washcloth in hand and she draped it over Al’s hot forehead. 

“Alicia, I’m hungry.” Al whined, as Alicia tucked her into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. 

“You heard June. No food right now.” 

“But that’s not fair!” 

“No, what’s not fair is me taking food from our pantry and making you something, only to have you throw it up a few minutes later. We’ll try water for right now, and if you can keep that down, I’ll think about food.” 

Al didn’t say anything else but she did grumble to herself, making Alicia feel bad. It broke her heart to know that Al was hungry, and it’s worse because she knows that they have food and she has to withhold it from the sick girl, but letting Al eat something, knowing that she was going to throw it back up, was cruel. 

It wasn’t long after this that Al dozed off, and this allowed Alicia to clean up around the room and she was able to work in the peace and quiet for a half hour, before Althea woke up and threw up in the bucket again. 

Alicia was there, every step of the way, rubbing her girlfriend’s back and whispering soothing words to her. 

“You’re really good at this.” Al said, once Alicia came back with the bucket all cleaned out. 

“Good at what?” 

“Caregiving.” 

“Well, I’ve had a lot of practice. Before the dead started walking, I took care of my brother all the time.” 

“Nick? Why?” 

“He was a heroin addict. That meant that he was in and out of rehab, going through withdrawals, always leaving to get high after getting clean. It was the same cycle over and over. Trust me, I’ve dealt with plenty of icky stomachs and more vomit than you can imagine.” 

Althea smiled at Alicia and the younger girl wiped her sweaty face off with the washcloth. 

“Your fever seems to be getting higher. I’ll go see if June has any medicine. Then maybe you can take a bath or something.” 

“Are you saying that I stink?” Al joked, trying to make Alicia smile. 

“Goofy girl.” Alicia said, pressing a kiss to Al’s forehead. “It’d be pretty mean of me to say that my sick girlfriend was stinky, wouldn’t it?” 

Althea shifted a bit so she could lean in closer to Alicia. 

“Come on Baby, I need to get June. Just lay down and rest.” 

“No fair.” Al mumbled, but she settled back down on the bed like Alicia wanted, so the younger girl could go and get June. 

“Has she been resting?” June asked, smoothing Al’s hair back after she checked her fever. 

“A little bit. She keeps waking up to get sick though.” 

“Once her nausea is under control and she’s no longer throwing up, she’ll be able to get plenty of rest.” 

“I’m hungry……” Al whimpered, hoping that June wouldn’t be as strict as Alicia. 

June looked at Alicia and saw that she was looking at the girl with pity. 

“I don’t want her to eat just to throw up.” 

June nodded in understanding. 

“If you’d like, I could bring up a small bowl of chicken broth, so she can have something in her belly.” 

“Are you sure it’d be ok? Is she gonna get sick from eating it?” 

“Not if we take it slow. As long as she doesn’t inhale the broth, she should be fine.” 

“Ok.” Alicia said, knowing that Al wouldn’t stop asking for food until she got some. 

“I’ll be back.” June said, getting up and walking down to the kitchen area. 

“Alicia……” Althea whimpered, trying to snuggle close to her girlfriend again. 

“Oh Althie. How are you feeling? Is your tummy still yucky?” 

“Hot.” Al said, and Alicia looked at her girlfriend in pity. 

“Well, June is bringing you something light to eat, so after you get something in your tummy, we can cool you off in the bathtub if you’d like.” 

Fifteen minutes later, June came back with a bowl filled half way with broth. 

“If Al is hungry, she’ll try to eat it all at once. Alicia, you need to feed her to make sure that she takes her time.” 

Alicia nodded and June left again, to give both girl’s privacy. 

“Althie, sit up please. Then you can eat.” Alicia said softly, setting the bowl on the bedside table. As gently as possible, she helped Al sit up. 

“Easy does it. Good girl.” She praised once Althea was sitting up and ready to eat. 

“Hungry.” Al murmured, and Alicia knew that her girlfriend was experiencing both delirium from her fever and drowsiness from the medicine that June gave her. 

“I know Baby, I know. I’m going to feed you now, so stay awake for me.” 

Althea perked up a bit at the mention of food and Alicia kissed her girlfriend’s forehead before grabbing the bowl and putting it under her chin. When Al was ready, Alicia picked up the spoon and brought it to Al’s mouth, letting her girlfriend take her time to eat the broth. 

As Al ate, Alicia said little praises and told her girlfriend how much she loved her. They took breaks when Al needed them and after twenty minutes, the broth was gone. 

“Good girl.” Alicia praised, setting the bowl and spoon to the side. She gave Al a hug and pressed kiss after kiss to her warm forehead. Her fever was still high, but it wasn’t as bad as it was before June had given her the medicine. 

The two waited a half hour before moving, to make sure that Al wouldn’t throw up the broth and once they were good, Alicia left Al to rest on the bed and she went into the bathroom, to get a bath ready for the sick girl. 

As she was filling up the bathtub, she was startled when she saw Victor come into the bathroom, carrying Al bridal style in his arms. 

“What the hell Victor? Why are you carrying her? I left her on our bed.” 

“Well, either from fever induced delirium, or from being extremely tired, Al seemed to forget where you were, because one moment, John and I are trying to teach Charlie how to play poker, and the next minute, Althea almost takes a tumble down the main stairs because she’s looking for you. John caught her just in time, preventing her from cracking her head open on the concrete.” 

As if on cue, Al started twisting a bit in Victor’s arms. 

“Wan’ ‘Licia.” She slurred, reaching for her girlfriend and making grabby hands. 

“Oh Althie.” Alicia cooed, going over to tap Al on the nose. “You’re a needy girl when you're sick.” She teased, kissing her forehead. “Let’s get you cooled down.” 

With that, Alicia closed the lid on the toilet and Victor gently sat Al down, knowing that she’d fall if she tried to stand. Once she was situated, Victor left and Alicia undressed her girlfriend. 

It took a bit of time for Alicia to safely get Al in the tub and once she did, the sick girl tried to get out. 

“Too cold!” Al protested, as Alicia grabbed a washcloth and maneuvered Al back into the tub. 

“No, it’s room temperature. Anything hotter will make you overheat and anything colder will give you chills. June said earlier that any bath or shower on the first day had to be room temperature. You’ll get used to it in a moment.” 

Al just blinked at her girlfriend and Alicia could see that Al’s eyes were so fever misted that she probably wouldn’t even remember this interaction by the time she was better. 

What Alicia wasn’t expecting was for Al to burst into tears. 

Althea started to cry, loud, gut wrenching sobs escaping out of her mouth with tears flowing freely out of her eyes. 

“It hurts!” Were the only words that Al was actually able to say, and Alicia gave Althea a big hug, not even caring if the front of her shirt was soaked in bathwater. 

“What hurts Baby? Do I need to get June?” 

Al didn’t verbally respond. She only motioned towards her whole body and shook her head, signaling that she was uncomfortable and in pain everywhere, and no, she did not want June. 

“Althea, what can I do to help you?” Alicia asked, desperate to know what Al needed. 

Al didn’t answer, she only looked down, deciding to be stubborn instead. 

Alicia sighed, and since Al wouldn’t work with her, she picked up the washcloth and started to clean her girlfriend off, trying to make her comfortable. 

When it was clear that Althea could no longer tolerate being in the bathtub, Alicia drained the water and stood Al up, wrapping her in a towel. 

“There we go.” She cooed, drying Al off. 

“I’m cold.” Al whispered, her teeth starting to chatter. 

“Ok. We’ll get you dressed really quick.” Alicia promised, gently pulling a shirt over Al’s head and helping her step into her panties and sweatpants. 

By the time they got back to the bedroom, Al was so tired, she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. 

Alicia tucked Althea in tight and gave her more kisses before leaving the room and going down by the others. She knew that everyone would be worried, especially Victor and John. 

“How’s she doing?” John asked, looking up at Alicia. 

“I’m not sure. The bath only made her more irritable if anything, and she was crying pretty hard. She’s sleeping now so hopefully she can get some rest.” 

Everyone nodded when they heard that and in order for Al to get the rest that she needed, they agreed to keep it down until she got better. 

Both Alicia and June checked on Al periodically throughout the rest of the day and in the mid evening, Alicia went up to the bedroom to do one of those checks. When she arrived at the bedroom, she was startled to see Al laying on the bed, crying. 

“Althie, what’s wrong?” 

“I thought you weren’t coming back.” She squeaked, and Alicia sat down on the side of the bed, facing her girlfriend. 

“I just wanted to give you some space so you could sleep. You were very sleepy earlier, and you were very upset too. You needed a lot of rest and I didn’t want to disturb you.” 

“I’m sorry for crying earlier, I’m usually not an emotional wreck.” 

“Al it’s ok, you don’t have to apologize for crying, especially when you’re sick. Your fever was really messing with you earlier, you almost hurt yourself.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Honey, do you remember leaving the room and trying to go downstairs?” 

Al shook her head and Alicia sighed. 

“John saved you from taking a nasty fall down the main stairs and Victor carried you up to the bathroom because I was in there getting your bath ready. Do you remember any of that?” 

“I remember Victor carrying me. And how disastrous that bath was.” 

“It wasn’t a disaster. Yeah, you cried a bunch and tried to escape a couple times, but we got you cleaned up. It all ended well.” 

Al didn’t say anything to that so Alicia started to smooth back her hair and play with it. 

“How are you feeling now? Are you hungry? Is there anything I can get for you?” 

“Can we go down to the living area?” 

“Althea, right now the best place for you is in bed.” 

“But I wanna cuddle on your chair!” 

“I suppose we could for a little while.” Alicia allowed, and Al grinned at the news. 

Before they could even move, however, Alicia noticed that Al looked a bit green, and placed the bucket under her chin just in time for her to throw up. 

“I changed my mind.” Alicia said as she came back into the room after having cleaned the bucket. “We’ll wait until you’re done throwing up before we go downstairs. I want you to stay in bed.” 

Al frowned but didn’t say anything. Even though she wanted to go down by the others, she knew that Alicia was right. Everyone else in their group wouldn’t want to see her throw up anyway, so until that stops, she has to stay in the bedroom. 

“You can go back down by the others if you want. I know you don’t want to stay up here with me all night.” 

“Hey, I don’t wanna be anywhere else. Plus, who’ll take care of you if I’m downstairs?” 

“I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” 

“You’re a big baby when you're sick. When Victor brought you into the bathroom, all you wanted was me. Reaching for me with your little hands, saying how much you wanted ‘Licia.” Alicia said, grinning when she saw how blushy Al got. 

“My hands aren’t little.” Al pouted, and Alicia stroked her girlfriend’s cheek, warm from both her fever and her embarrassment. 

“You know I’m only teasing.” Alicia said, taking Al’s hand into her own. 

“Yeah. I know.” Al said, putting her free hand over her mouth to cover a yawn. 

“Are you getting tired Baby? Would you like to go back to sleep?” 

“I can’t. I just woke up.” 

“If you’re sleepy, you can go back to bed. When you’re sick, you get to sleep and rest for as long as you need, no judgements.” 

Al shrugged and Alicia smoothed her hair back. 

“Do you want something to eat? Are you hungry?” 

“Not really. If I eat, I’m gonna puke.” 

Alicia nodded in understanding and rubbed her hand along Al’s stomach. “I think you should go to bed Althea. You’re tired and you need all the rest you can get.” 

“Can you lay with me until I fall asleep?” 

Alicia nodded and settled down on her side of the bed, pulling Al close to her. Althea turned around and snuggled into Alicia, nuzzling her nose against Alicia’s chest. 

“I’ve missed this.” Alicia whispered, running her fingers through Al’s hair. “You all cuddled up next to me, being my favorite little snuggle bunny.” 

“Please. I’m your only snuggle bunny.” 

“That you are.” Alicia agreed, blowing on the shell of Al’s ear, smiling when Al giggled and squirmed in her arms. 

“Hey now, we shouldn’t get you all riled up if you’re going to bed.” 

“You’re the one who’s tickling me.” 

“Tickling? Is my snuggle bunny ticklish?” Alicia teased, putting her hand under Althea’s shirt and skittering her fingers across her belly. 

Al started to laugh a bit and she tried to squirm away from Alicia’s wiggling fingers but she didn’t have to try and get away for too long. Alicia stopped only after about ten seconds because she didn’t want Al to start coughing or have breathing problems, or to throw up. 

Knowing that she riled Al up again, Alicia went back to cuddling her and playing with her hair, to try and lull her back to sleep. She wanted Al to get every bit of rest she needed. 

“You know, you’re probably going to get this too. Especially with how much you’ve been hugging and kissing me.” 

“Well, Charlie already has it. I’m assuming that this stomach bug is going to make it’s way through our entire group before we’ve seen the last of it.” 

"What do you mean Charlie has it?"

"She has a fever and she threw up after dinner. I'm assuming everyone will get sick, you two were just the first ones."

“Well when you get it, I’ll take care of you just as well as you’re taking care of me.” 

“Awww. Thanks Babe.” Alicia laughed, giving Al another kiss. 

The two were silent then, and Althea moved in to get closer to Alicia, though she was already pressed up against her. 

“I love you.” She murmured, already half asleep. Between Alicia playing with her hair and hearing her heartbeat in her ear, Al’s eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. 

“I love you too Althea, now do me a favor, and go to sleep.” Alicia whispered, smiling when her girlfriend shut her eyes and settled against her. 

“Good girl.” She said, and once Alicia could tell that Al was fast asleep, she carefully untangled the girl from her and went to go see what the others were doing. 

Four days later, Althea was the picture of perfect health. She woke up next to Alicia and smiled, before kissing her on the forehead to wake her up. Al’s smile turned into a frown however, when she pressed her lips to Alicia’s forehead and felt nothing but heat. 

“Al………I don’t feel good.” Alicia croaked, her voice dry and raspy. 

“Oh Baby. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.” Al promised, before getting up to alert June that the denim factory had another patient. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
